Recent Photos from Israel

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Here are recent photos I've taken in Israel in the past 1-2 months, divided over several posts.  First off, Jerusalem Light Rail photos!

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Before you ask, no, I don't know the difference between Egged and Egged Ta'avurah.  No one else I know does either.  Wikipedia says this:  "Egged Ta'avura (Hebrew: ?? ??) is an Israeli bus company. It is a subsidiary of the Egged Bus Cooperative and the Ta'avura Group, and was founded by the two in 2006 from 2 other subsidiaries of Egged, following the public transportation reform and privatization in Israel in the 2000s. Its chairman is Gideon Mizrahi, and the CEO is the retired Israel Police Major General Mickey Levi."

I don't need Wikipedia to tell you that Egged Ta'avurah has operated the intracity buses in Ashkelon for some time.  They started operating the Netanya intracity routes in the past 4 or 5 years IIRC.  More recently, they started operating the suburban services that operate between Jerusalem and Mevaseret, Givat Ze'ev, and Ma'ale Adumim, however, they were operating the Jerusalem-Arad intercity bus for some time already, so this isn't their first foray into Jerusalem.

So if you've come to accept that the only thing in this post is photos and not an answer to your burning question about what on earth Egged Ta'avurah is and isn't, then scroll down to see the photos.

The first photo is at the Ashkelon Central Bus Station, the rest of the photos are from Jerusalem.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

On March 7, I did some transitfanning in Jerusalem, and found myself on the "Tzir Haredi" a few hours before Shabbat started.  It used to be that all intercity buses departed from and arrived at the Central Bus Station near the city exit.  However, there are now buses that operate directly from some of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods direct to ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in other cities.  These routes are a bit controversial for several reasons.  Unofficially, there is separate seating for men and women on these buses, which is against the law unless all passengers agree to a separate seating scheme.  These routes also charge a lower fare than the bus station to bus station routes because they don't have to pay the access fees to use the central bus station.  For example, the Jerusalem CBS-Haifa Hof HaCarmel CBS route costs 44 NIS one way, but the Haredi bus only costs 31.50 NIS. 

On Friday afternoons, the corridor where many of these routes is quite busy, there are many people (hundreds in some cases) waiting for each bus, each of which leaves with all seats filled and the maximum 10 people standing in the aisle.  On some routes, such as the 402 Jerusalem-Bnei Brak bus, which is scheduled to operate every 10 minutes on Friday after 12 PM until the last trip, an empty bus will start its run at an intermediate stop, load up completely, and then just operate straight to Bnei Brak because it can't pick up any more passengers.

Most of the buses in this corridor are still operated by Egged, however, the bus to Elad is operated by Egged Ta'avurah, the service to Kiryat Ye'arim is operated by Superbus, the routes to Modi'in Illit are operated by Kavim, the routes to Beitar Illit are operated by a subsidiary of Kavim called Illit.  Here are some photos of these other operators, I'll post Egged photos (of both intercity and intracity buses) another time.

Kavim:









Illit:

















Superbus:

[rideonrulez]

Though I don't always say it, Thanks for sharing with us!

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Though I don't always say it, Thanks for sharing with us!

You're welcome!  More in a few minutes...

[WMATAGMOAGH]

   The Metronit, Israel's first BRT system opened in Haifa this past summer as the centerpiece to a renewal of that city's public transport network (similar to the renewal that took place in Jerusalem in conjunction with the opening of the light rail line there).  Back in the mid-1990s, the Transportation Ministry came to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa with money to build a large project.  Jerusalem opted to build light rail and those trains have been running for over two years now.  Tel Aviv chose light rail and so far, only utility relocation has taken place to prepare for construction of the first line.  Haifa opted for BRT.  I rode it for the first time earlier this month.

   The system consists of three lines.  Line 1 is Israel's only truly 24/7 transit line (there is limited bus service in Haifa on Saturdays, and there is a "night line" that operates 7 days a week, but this is the only transit line in the country that I know of that operates with the same route number and same route 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).  Line 1 starts at Hof HaCarmel CBS, operates through the downtown area, stops at Merkazit HaMifratz, and then goes out the Haifa-Akko Road, passing the Kiriyon Shopping Mall before reaching the Krayot bus station at the northern end of Kiryat Motzkin.  Line 2 starts at the Bat Galim railway station, follows the same route as Line 1 as far as Kiryat Ata Junction, before branching off and terminating in Kiryat Ata itself.  Line 3 starts in Haifa's Hadar neighborhood, about halfway up Mt. Carmel, offers an interchange with the other lines at Merkazit HaMifratz, and then works its way through Kiryat Yam before terminating at the Krayot bus station. 

   The buses are operated by a subsidiary of the Dan bus company that operates many routes in the Tel Aviv area.  They are all articulated units (nearly 19 meters long) manufactured by MAN.  Fares are collected on the platforms at each station and there are random inspections made to verify that people are paying, though I didn't see any patrols during my trips (fortunate since on one trip, my card didn't validate properly, and I didn't realize it until later).  There are screens at the front of each section of the bus that show the name of the next stop in Hebrew, English, and Arabic.  There are also two LCD signs on the side of each bus and one on the front that show the line number and destination in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, but it is difficult to see the side signs through the tinted windows, and often people on the stretch where all the lines operate had to ask passengers on board which bus they were about to board.  (I don't get Israel's obsession with these signs, they aren't easy to read in many circumstances).  While the doors are open at each stop, the line number and destination is announced in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, but otherwise, stop announcements were only in Hebrew.

For most of their routes, the Metronit lines operate in an exclusive, bus only right of way that in some cases, isn't even open to other buses.  However, there are some sections where the buses use the same lanes as regular traffic, yet each stop in these sections still has a platform level with the bus floor, fare machines, and fare validators.  Unfortunately, the stops are shared with other bus lines in some places, so there are locations where the Metronit bus can't enter the station until the buses in front of it clear out from the station.  Also, there is a spot in Hadar on Line 3 (and maybe there are others, this is the only one I saw) where there is a bus stop for regular bus routes in the Metronit lane that isn't a Metronit stop, and as a result, the bus I was on had to wait for the regular bus to leave the stop so we could continue on our way.  Not exactly bus rapid transit.  But to their credit, they built a new "backdoor" into and out of Merkazit HaMifratz for the Metronit lines which makes it easier for those routes to serve the bus station without getting stuck in traffic surrounding the regular bus station entrance (adjacent to a large shopping mall) and the entry to the Carmel Tunnels. 

I rode Line 1 from Merkazit HaMifratz to Merkazit HaKrayot.  I then walked back to the Kiryon Mall to get photos and lunch (how many American shopping malls have two kosher shwarma places in their food courts?!?), and then walked over to Line 3 to take that back into Haifa.  I would have taken Line 1 from the German Colony to Hof HaCarmel if I realized how close to a station I was when I boarded a regular Egged bus, that gave me a scenic tour of some neighborhoods I had never been to before, but was not the fastest way to get to the bus station.

Overall, I'd give the Metronit a grade of B.  The ticketing system could be simplified and made clearer.  The signage and announcements need some work to reduce confusion for passengers as they try boarding the buses.  And the delays the bus encounters at red lights where the bus lane has to cross over from the median to the side of the road (in at least two places) and other bus routes sharing the bus lane give the network several demerits.

Here are photos.  First, this is what the BRT right-of-way looks like in the middle of Sderot Ben Gurion in Kiryat Yam on Line 3.





And here are the buses themselves:



















Finally, here are some photos of regular Egged buses in both Haifa and in the Krayot:

Yes, this bus is parked on the curb. Yes, that is how Israelis often park if the space isn't big enough for their vehicle. Yes, it sucks for pedestrians.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

While fanning the Metronit BRT network in and around Haifa (which is what you saw in the previous post), I came across a bridge over the Israel Railways tracks. Seeing that a train was due to pass within a few minutes, I hung around and got these photos, including a shot with Mt. Carmel and Haifa University as a backdrop to the approaching train.

[WMAveteran]

Excellent coverage and reporting.  I like the BRTs.  Are all the Israeli passenger trains operated by diesels?   Thank you very much indeed.